Sonic's 18th Birthday
by Blue Phoenix 12
Summary: Sonic the Hedgehog is turning 18 today... but only he seems to have remembered his birthday. Could his friends really have forgotten his special day?


Sonic the Hedgehog raced across the open fields at high speed. It was a beautiful summer day; the sky was clear, and the sun shone brightly over the lovely and peaceful town that was Green Hill. As the wind passed casually over the blue hedgehog's face, however, he found that his mind was not in its usual carefree state.

Sonic had a reputation as the Fastest Hedgehog Alive. He was famous for his ability to run at supersonic speeds. And along with that ability came a free spirit. The blue hedgehog never really cared what went on during the day; he was content to let things happen as they would. He never bothered to worry about what he would be doing next, what his friends might be doing or how their actions concerned him.

Except for today.

Sonic stopped on a large hill that overlooked the vast fields of his homeland. The wind blew softly through his quills, and the air was sweet with the scents of various flowers. The hedgehog sighed deeply. For some reason, he couldn't enjoy the day as much as he normally would. And he knew exactly what that reason was.

For today was not just any day. It was a very important day for Sonic, a milestone moment in his life. It was the day he had finally reached official adulthood. Today was his 18th birthday.

But only _he_ seemed to know it. It was already past noon, and not one of his friends had come looking for him to congratulate him on his coming of age. No one had said a word to him about the day; they hadn't even mentioned it once in the few weeks preceding the date. This was very odd...

"They can't have forgotten", Sonic thought curiously as he gazed out towards the horizon in the distance. "They're probably just busy, and I've been running all morning; that's why I haven't seen them today. Yeah... that must be it..."

Deciding that he would have to seek out his friends in order to receive their best wishes today, the blue hedgehog took off again, speeding across the fields once more in the direction of his best friend's house.

Sonic ran across Green Hill until he reached a house with a large workshop nearby. Hearing noises coming from the workshop, the blue hedgehog stepped towards the garage door in the hopes of finding his friend. The first thing he noticed upon walking into the garage was a small jet, blue in color and positioned in the center of the great floor. A minute later, someone stepped out from behind the aircraft into the hedgehog's line of vision. It was a young, orange fox with blue eyes and two tails; Sonic's best friend and adopted brother, Tails the Fox.

Tails noticed his big brother standing near the entrance into the workshop, and immediately greeted him with a smile and a friendly wave.

"Hi, Sonic!" the two-tailed fox exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

Sonic smiled back at his little brother, concealing his confusion well behind his reciprocated friendly expression.

"Just passing by", the blue hedgehog replied. "Thought I'd see how you were doing."

"I'm doing fine, thanks!" said Tails happily as he approached an open hatch in the side of his aircraft. "I've been working on this new jet all morning. It's my latest design. If all goes well, it should be done later today. I can't wait to get it up in the air!"

"That's cool", said Sonic casually. He watched as the young fox reached for a wrench in the toolbox on the floor and began working on the machine again.

Tails didn't seem to remember what day it was. So, with the intention of reminding him in the most subtle way he could think of, the hedgehog slowly asked the fox:

"Tails... what day is it today?"

Tails ceased working for a moment, and looked up curiously in thought. After a few seconds, he turned to his big brother and calmly answered the question.

"June 23rd. Why do you ask?"

It was an off-putting answer. Sonic stared back at Tails seriously for several seconds, then finally smiled and shook his head.

"No reason", he responded plainly. "I was just... checking something."

The blue hedgehog looked over his shoulder and gazed outside the garage entrance towards the open country for a moment, then turned back to his little brother and continued in a casual tone.

"I should go now. It was nice talking to you, Tails. Good luck with your jet! See you later!"

"Thanks!" Tails replied happily. "See you later, Sonic!"

The fox watched as the hedgehog turned around and disappeared out the garage door at high speed. Once Sonic had vanished past the line of the horizon, Tails calmly replaced his wrench in its toolbox, turned back to his aircraft, closed the hatch, and picked up a large bucket of red paint and a paintbrush from the ground nearby. Naturally, being several miles away by now, the blue hedgehog didn't notice when the corner of his best friend's lips curled the tiniest fraction upwards in a mischievous smile.

Sonic normally would not have minded having his friends forget his birthday. In truth, he himself did not care too much for the date; every year, he spent this particular day no differently than any other day of the year, with the exception of the congratulations he received from his friends and the simple celebrations they would arrange for him. But this year it was different. Even _he_ recognized how important his 18th birthday was... So why didn't his friends? Something wasn't right...

After racing across the land for several more minutes, Sonic found himself on Angel Island, where he planned to encounter another of his closest friends and fellow heroes: Knuckles the Echidna. After stopping in front of the shrine of the great Master Emerald, the blue hedgehog casually climbed up the stone steps, and sure enough, once he reached the top, he noticed a red echidna sitting calmly in front of the huge green gemstone with his eyes closed and his arms crossed behind his head.

Knuckles's job and life's purpose was to be a guardian of the Master Emerald. He rarely ever left his post on Angel Island, except to follow his friends on adventures. So, naturally, Sonic was sure he would find the echidna here. The blue hedgehog approached his friend, coughed subtly to catch his attention, and spoke up.

"Hey, Knuckles! How's it goin'?"

Knuckles opened his eyes and looked up to see his friendly rival staring down at him casually. Curiosity showing plainly in his purple eyes, the echidna stared back at Sonic with a serious expression and replied:

"Hey, Sonic! What's up? Is Eggman up to something?"

He was referring to Dr. Eggman, Sonic's archenemy, who had an annoying habit of constantly trying to take over the world. Being recognized as heroes across the land, Sonic and his friends would often set off on adventures together to stop him. Obviously, Knuckles thought that the mad scientist might be up to one of his many schemes now, and Sonic had come to ask for his help in defeating him yet again.

The hedgehog shook his head in response, once again hiding his confusion towards his friend's ignorance behind a simple smile.

"Not today", Sonic answered with a laugh. "I was simply passing through Angel Island, and I figured I might come by and see how things were going with you."

Knuckles raised an eyebrow curiously at his friend, but answered his question nonetheless.

"Things are OK, I guess. Can't complain. Nothing really happened today, or at least, not yet. I'm pretty sure I saw Rouge flying by earlier. I think she might try something today; she's been threatening to sneak up on me for weeks. At first I thought she was just messing with me, but the other day I could have sworn I saw her darting through the trees in the forest by the Chaos Temple. She thinks she's so clever... Well, if she tries anything, I'll be ready for her."

Sonic nodded slowly, his confusion fading slightly to make way for amusement. Knuckles's greatest rival was Rouge the Bat, a highly-skilled jewel thief who made a habit of teasing him as much as she could. The blue hedgehog would never say it in front of the echidna himself, but he and his friends all secretly agreed that, despite their many quarrels and arguments, Knuckles and Rouge had feelings for each other, and they would probably make an adorable couple. Of course, Sonic was the only one who would ever have the courage to say anything about it to the red echidna, for as all of their friends knew, simply mentioning the subject to him was a surefire way to get punched in the face.

As Knuckles glanced suspiciously towards the forest beyond the shrine's stone stairway, Sonic made another attempt at reminding his friend of the importance of the current day.

"So... you're just gonna hang out here all day?" the blue hedgehog asked innocently. "You don't have any plans for today?"

Knuckles turned back to Sonic, sat up straight, and stretched his arms. The echidna then stared back curiously at the hedgehog as he gave a reply.

"None that I can think of. Why? Did you wanna finally finish our last fight?"

Sonic and Knuckles, being friendly rivals, often engaged in physical fights with each other. The red echidna had a reputation for being extremely short-tempered, and the blue hedgehog, carefree troublemaker that he was, could hardly ever resist an opportunity to provoke his friend. However, no matter how many times the two rivals started a battle, they never seemed to manage to finish it. Something would always happen to interrupt the fight, whether it was Eggman showing up to wreak havoc or simply their friends arriving to hang out with them. Since nobody was near the shrine at the moment but the two friends, Knuckles seemed to think now was a good time to finally finish one of his arguments with Sonic.

The blue hedgehog laughed and shook his head again.

"Nah", he replied. "You've got enough to worry about, what with Rouge constantly getting the best of you."

"What was that?" said Knuckles in a suddenly dangerous tone, rising slowly to his feet.

"Nothing", Sonic answered casually with a shrug. "Well, nice talking to you. Gotta run!"

And he was off again before Knuckles even had time to blink, let alone try to punch his lights out.

Feeling the wind rushing over his face again as he sped back to the fields of Green Hill, Sonic felt his temporary amusement fade once more to be replaced by fixed confusion. What in the world was going on? His best friends didn't seem to have any idea he was turning 18 today. How could that possibly be? Had he brought this upon himself, by never showing any interest in his own birthday?

As he pondered these questions curiously, the blue hedgehog stopped abruptly near a large patch of flowers. Pausing briefly to inhale the sweet scent in the air, he caught sight of a young light brown rabbit with brown eyes, laughing happily as she picked flowers with her beloved blue Chao: Cream the Rabbit and Cheese the Chao.

Suddenly intrigued by the sight of the young rabbit, Sonic began to make his way over to her. As he walked through the many flowers growing across the field, Cream looked up and noticed him approaching. At the sight of her hero friend walking towards her, the light brown rabbit grinned broadly and hurried over to him, Cheese floating quickly behind her. She carried a large array of flowers with her as she ran.

"Hi, Sonic!" she exclaimed happily as she stopped directly in front of him. "How are you?"

"I'm doing fine", the hedgehog replied, smiling at the rabbit. He soon found himself hoping that she had more to say, for he thought that even if Tails and Knuckles didn't remember his birthday, Cream almost certainly would.

To his surprise, the next words Sonic heard caused his heart to skip a beat.

"Oh, I have something for you!" said Cream suddenly, and she reached over the large bouquet in her hand to pull something off her left wrist. After selecting a small bracelet made of some of the prettiest blue flowers she had picked, the young rabbit took it in her right hand and held it up to the hedgehog before her.

"I thought you might like this!" she told him happily as he took it from her. "I made it myself! I thought of you when I picked the flowers. They're blue, just like you!"

Sonic looked down at the bracelet in his hand, smiling brightly while concealing the slight sensation of disappointment rising in him. He should have known better than to expect something more; Cream gave flowers to everyone she cared about. The blue hedgehog looked up from the flower bracelet and spoke to the light brown rabbit again.

"Thank you, Cream", he said kindly. "This is beautiful. I love it!"

Cream smiled proudly as Sonic slipped the bracelet onto his own left wrist. She then spoke again in her cheerful voice.

"Well, I have to go now, Sonic", she said sweetly. "I'm going to give the rest of these flowers to Mama! Come on, Cheese!"

Another unsurprising fact: Cream always picked flowers mostly for her mother, Vanilla the Rabbit. The blue Chao chirped happily at Sonic, then followed his rabbit owner away towards her house near the outskirts of the fields. The hedgehog watched Cream and Cheese disappear beyond the patch of flowers, then sighed and turned around to run off in the opposite direction.

With every stride he took, Sonic began to feel more confused and disappointed. This wasn't at all how he thought this day was going to be. He had expected his friends to come looking for him to congratulate him, not the other way around. He had expected to be showered with friendly hugs and maybe a few presents. It was how it had always been, every year. There was always someone who remembered his birthday...

And then it came to him. Stopping dead in his tracks in the middle of a wide open field, the blue hedgehog slapped his right palm to his forehead in disbelief. Of course! There _was_ always someone who remembered his birthday! He didn't know how he hadn't thought of it before. Turning around once more, Sonic raced back in the direction from which he had come to seek out the one person he was absolutely certain would know he was turning 18 today.

The hedgehog ran until he reached a long street lined with houses near the green fields. He hurried along the earth road, glancing briefly at every house, until he finally found the one he was looking for. Stopping before a cute, simple house with a sign nearby, Sonic then walked casually up the house's front path to the wooden door.

Before he could reach up and knock on it, however, the blue hedgehog was caught off guard by a voice speaking loudly above his head.

"She's not home."

It was a female voice, and a very mature one at that. Looking up to find the speaker, Sonic noticed a white bat with blue eyes sitting casually on the roof of the house: Rouge the Bat. As the hedgehog stared at her in surprise, she smiled mischievously at him and continued:

"She's not here. She went out."

"She's not home?" Sonic repeated, confused. "How do you know?"

"Because I saw her walking by a few minutes ago, when I was flying over Green Hill."

"Well, where did she go?"

Rouge shrugged at the question before replying in her indifferent tone.

"Don't know. It looked like she was headed towards the village, though."

"The village?" said the hedgehog, suddenly intrigued. "Was she... running?"

The bat took a moment to think, then answered the question.

"It didn't look like she was in much of a hurry. I just assumed she was spending the day out. It _is_ a nice day, after all."

Sonic nodded, feeling the ever more familiar sensation of disappointment take him over yet again. Rouge was probably right: the person he had come looking for must be enjoying the beautiful day, instead of worrying about finding him. In an attempt to hide his true feelings, the hedgehog gazed up at the bat and spoke to her again in a tone layered with curiosity.

"What are you doing here, anyway?"

The bat shrugged again and glanced around the house towards the distance.

"Just taking a break from flying. I was looking for Shadow. I wanted to see if he could help me prank Knuckles today."

At this last statement, Sonic couldn't help but laugh. He recalled his conversation with Knuckles from earlier that day, and as he remembered his friend's suspicious statements, the hedgehog realized that the echidna's intuition, as had been agreed upon before by all their other friends, really was quite sharp. While Sonic began to wonder exactly how Rouge would get the best of Knuckles this time, the bat continued voicing her thoughts in a tone of exasperation.

"Shadow is never around when I need him... Where could he be?"

"I'll help you find him", offered the blue hedgehog on the ground below, smiling subtly. "I could use a distraction anyway."

Upon hearing the hedgehog's statement, the bat sitting on the roof looked down at him again and tilted her head in mild curiosity.

"Distraction?" she repeated, seeming genuinely intrigued. "From what?"

One more person who had no clue what day it was today. For a moment, Sonic wondered if he should tell her... but then he shook his head casually and waved his hand indifferently.

"Nothing", he replied, deciding against confessing to a known rival of his and his friends'. "It's not important. Let's just go find Shadow."

Rouge nodded in agreement, then spread her wings and took off again, flying off towards the horizon with Sonic following close behind on the ground.

After running across the fields for several minutes, the hedgehog suddenly heard the bat exclaim over his head:

"Shadow!"

Stopping along with her, Sonic glanced briefly up towards Rouge, then turned to face the direction in which she was looking and noticed a black hedgehog with red eyes and red highlights in his quills standing some distance away from them: Shadow the Hedgehog. He was standing on a small hill with an oak tree on its crest, staring blankly off towards the west horizon. The white bat glided over to him, calling out as she flew.

"There you are! Where have you been? I've been looking everywhere for you!"

Shadow, as though being pulled from a trance, slowly turned to face the source of the call. His serious expression did not change as he saw Rouge approaching. Instead, he simply raised an eyebrow at her and replied in a voice of mixed curiosity and confusion.

"Looking for me? What for? Am I late?"

The bat landed beside the black hedgehog, crossed her arms and stared at him meaningfully, her back turned to the blue hedgehog, who stayed behind and watched the conversation from where he stood.

"No", Rouge replied, a minor note of stress in her voice. "You're not late for helping me prank Knuckles. I was hoping to have something done by sunset."

Shadow stared back at his friend for a moment in silence, then glanced past her and noticed Sonic standing several feet away. Suddenly realizing that Rouge had been accompanied to this spot in the fields, the black hedgehog nodded to his rival to acknowledge his presence.

"Hey, Sonic!" he called casually, still holding his indifferent expression. "What's going on?"

Sonic sighed. This was becoming annoying. Resisting the urge to answer back, "I'm turning 18 today; that's what's going on!", the blue hedgehog instead smiled subtly and called back to his rival in an equally casual tone.

"I was just helping Rouge look for you. She seemed pretty excited about messing with Knuckles..."

Shadow nodded once, then pointed at the blue flower bracelet still on Sonic's wrist, inquiring about it curiously.

"What's that?"

The blue hedgehog glanced down at his left wrist for a few seconds, then looked back up at his rival with a smile still on his lips.

"Oh, this?" he answered calmly. "Just a little gift Cream gave me. I ran into her in the fields earlier. She made it for me."

The black hedgehog nodded again and smiled subtly, but didn't say anything else. Instead, he simply turned back to the white bat standing before him and resumed speaking to her. Sensing there was no longer any point in staying, Sonic then decided to leave Shadow and Rouge to their plotting.

"Hey, guys..." Sonic called to the two friends standing a short distance away from him, "I think I'm gonna take off. It was nice talking to you both. See you later!"

"Where are you going?" asked Shadow as his rival began to turn his back on them. Sonic turned around briefly to reply, once again, in indifference.

"Nowhere, really. It's just been a long day. I think I'll hang out in the fields, by myself. Catch you guys later!"

The blue hedgehog looked off towards the horizon and sighed again. Before speeding off, however, he turned back one last time to speak to the bat currently watching him in silence.

"And by the way, Rouge... Knuckles is expecting you."

And with that, Sonic dashed off in the direction of the west horizon, towards which the sun itself was now headed. Shadow and Rouge watched him vanish in silence, then turned to face each other with slightly nervous expressions on their faces. The two friends, now deciding there was no longer any time to waste, then took off together in the direction of Angel Island, each one either running or flying as fast as their shoes or wings would carry them.

Some time later, Sonic found himself sitting quietly against a small tree in the fields, facing the horizon as he watched the sun setting in the distance. The day had passed, and no one had done anything for him to make it seem special. Not one of his friends had acknowledged the day, and now that it was finally ending, the hedgehog realized that this fact induced an oddly unfamiliar sensation within him: sadness. They had all forgotten. He was left alone. All alone, on his 18th birthday. It just didn't make any sense.

Sonic was gazing absently towards the setting sun, resting his left arm on his knee and twirling his flower bracelet around his wrist, when he was suddenly brought back to reality by a small noise nearby. Turning to his left to face the source of the sound, the blue hedgehog suddenly noticed someone walking towards the hill on which he was currently seated, the very person he had been looking for earlier that day. It was a pink hedgehog with green eyes and a red dress: his admirer, Amy Rose.

Catching sight of her crush sitting on the hill, the pink hedgehog quickly changed pace from a walk to a run, and hurried the rest of the way up to meet him. Sonic smiled subtly at her as she approached, and once she reached him, Amy stopped in front of him and grinned.

"Hi, Sonic!" she exclaimed excitedly. "I thought I'd find you here!"

"Really?" her crush replied, feeling his hopes rising again despite the day's off-putting events. "You were looking for me?"

"Aren't I always?" Amy laughed happily. At this, Sonic felt a bright smile creep along his lips, for he couldn't deny the truth in her words.

"I guess so", he laughed back, then turned his head to continue watching the sunset. As he kept his gaze fixed on the horizon, his admirer continued speaking in her normal cheerful tone, this time voicing words she knew would brighten her crush's gloomy day.

"Oh, before I forget..." and she knelt by his side and kissed him on the cheek before finishing, "Happy Birthday!"

At these words, Sonic turned sharply to face Amy, suddenly feeling his heart almost leap out of his chest. He stared at the pink hedgehog in shock for a minute... then sighed in immense relief, reached out, and wrapped his arms around her excitedly. She laughed as he embraced her, then gazed fondly into his green eyes after he released her.

"Thank you!" the blue hedgehog exclaimed in exasperation. "You're the first person to say anything to me all day!"

"Really?" Amy replied in surprise, the smile suddenly fading from her lips. "But... it's already dusk!"

"I know! I ran all around Green Hill and even to Angel Island to see my friends today, but nobody remembered it was my birthday!"

"Oh, Sonic... I'm sorry."

Despite his disappointment regarding the day, Sonic smiled simply at his admirer and shook his head.

"It's OK, Amy. It's not your fault. If anything, it's my fault, really. I'm just glad someone finally remembered. Thanks!"

Amy's face rapidly turned red at her crush's words as he faced the horizon yet again. After a moment of silence, she reached out and placed her hand on his, speaking to him again in a gentle voice.

"Hey, listen, why don't I make this up to you? We can worry about celebrating with our friends later. Come back to my house, and I'll make you my best chocolate cake. How does that sound?"

Sonic turned to face his admirer, and after considering her suggestion for a moment, he smiled brightly at her.

"That sounds nice", he admitted. "I'd like that."

Amy reciprocated her crush's smile, then the two hedgehogs stood up and began to make their way back to the house Sonic had visited earlier, his admirer's house.

After walking together across Green Hill for a while, Sonic and Amy finally reached the latter's house by the open fields. The sun had set completely, and long shadows were now cast across the land. The two hedgehogs stepped up the front path of the house towards the front door, the blue hedgehog speaking sadly to the pink one as he walked beside her.

"I still can't believe everyone forgot. I mean, they remember every year! It doesn't make sense..."

Because she opened the front door and stepped into the house ahead of him, Sonic did not notice the mischievous grin beginning to form on Amy's lips. He hadn't noticed the curtain shifting in the living room window as they approached the house, and he didn't notice the eerie darkness and silence inside the house itself as he stepped inside. The 18-year-old hedgehog did not realize the truth of the day's strange set of events... until his admirer switched on the lights of her living room, and he received the shock of his young life.

"SURPRISE!"

Sonic's heart jolted into overdrive as the sight of all his friends gathered in the living room met his eyes and the sound of their simultaneous shouting reached his ears. His green eyes widened in shock as he stared around completely stunned at all the people in the room: Tails, Knuckles, Cream, Cheese, Vanilla, Rouge and Shadow. Over everyone's heads, hanging across the ceiling, was a large banner with bold letters reading, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SONIC!".

After gazing at the group in silence for a long moment, the blue hedgehog turned around to look at Amy, who grinned back at him, winked, and responded to his stunned expression with a sly remark.

"You didn't actually think we all forgot, did you?"

Sonic gazed quietly at his admirer with a serious expression, then broke into a broad grin. Of course, he should have known all along... Amy would never let his birthday go unacknowledged, especially not one as important as his 18th birthday. There wasn't a single doubt in his mind that this entire charade had been her idea. She had wanted to surprise him... and she had succeeded.

Amy grinned broadly back at her crush, then stepped forward and tightly wrapped her arms around him. Sonic embraced his admirer happily for a moment, then released her and turned back to face everyone else with a bright grin on his face. The pink hedgehog then led him over to the center of the group, where he began happily accepting congratulations and hugs from all his friends.

"You guys!" the blue hedgehog exclaimed, still in shock. "I can't believe you did this! I was so freaked out; you all really had me going!"

"It was all Amy's idea", said Tails in amusement, confirming Sonic's assumption. "She had been planning this for a month!"

Amy laughed and nodded as her crush glanced back at her. Sonic kept the broad smile on his lips as he began inquiring about the day.

"So, everything that happened... every time I said hello to one of you...?"

At his friendly rival's unfinished question, Knuckles nodded and laughed.

"Yep", he replied. "Amy told us not to say anything to you about your birthday. She knew you wouldn't bother reminding us, that you would just keep quiet and leave."

"But..." Sonic continued, suddenly remembering something, "I almost spoiled the surprise! I came looking for Amy at her house!"

At this statement, Rouge raised her hand slowly.

"Why do you think _I_ was here?" she told him with a mischievous grin. "Someone had to keep an eye out for you while Amy went to the village to get stuff for the party."

The bat then lowered her hand and discreetly nudged the black hedgehog standing beside her as she continued speaking.

"And Shadow here almost spoiled the surprise too!"

Shadow raised an eyebrow at Rouge and shrugged.

"I thought you were looking for me because I was late to meet Knuckles with you!" he replied indignantly. "I didn't think you'd bring Sonic with you!"

"He offered to help me find you! I admit I wasn't expecting it, but I thought it was a good idea to keep him away from Amy's house."

The blue hedgehog laughed as the truth behind the day's events finally began to sink in. Amy then placed her hands gently on his shoulders to catch his attention again.

"We have presents for you!" she told him excitedly. At this, Sonic's friends all nodded in confirmation, and the blue hedgehog sensed the happiness rising in him even faster.

Amy gave Sonic a photo album, filled with pictures of him and all his friends. Knuckles, Rouge and Shadow gave him a hero badge, which they had made themselves using three pieces of gemstones: a ruby from the red echidna, a sapphire from the white bat, and an emerald from the black hedgehog. Cream, Cheese and Vanilla gave him a lovely flower arrangement to brighten his home: a blue vase full of the flowers the young rabbit and her Chao had picked that afternoon, which had been beautifully arranged later that day by her mother.

But the greatest present of all was saved for last: Tails's. The two-tailed fox led his big brother outside to the open yard behind the house, both friends being followed out by the rest of the group. Once they had stepped outside the back door, Tails switched on a light on the back wall of the house, which quickly brightened the large grassy knoll. The moment the yard was illuminated, everyone heard a sharp intake of breath come from Sonic, followed by a cheerful laugh from Tails.

In the middle of the yard, brilliantly lit by the light of the outdoor lamp, was a small jet, painted blue and bearing two symbols on its tail: one of a hedgehog and the other of a fox. Along the side of the jet, painted in red, were three bold words: "The Blue Blur". Recognizing the jet as the aircraft on which he had seen his little brother working just after noon, Sonic stared absolutely stunned at it for a full minute, completely speechless. He then turned slowly to face Tails, and noticed that the young fox was looking back at him with an innocent grin on his face.

"This is your jet", the blue hedgehog whispered. At these words, however, Tails shook his head.

"Actually", the two-tailed fox corrected his brother, "it's _your_ jet!"

Sonic's eyes widened in disbelief. His own jet, designed by Tails the Fox? It was the best present he could ever hope to receive for his 18th birthday. The blue hedgehog turned slowly back to the aircraft, a broad grin returning to his face. After a brief moment of silence, he suddenly reached out to his little brother and pulled him into a playful headlock.

"Bro, you're the best!" Sonic exclaimed as Tails laughed. "I love it! Thank you so much!"

The rest of the group smiled at the pair of best friends in silence for a long moment, until finally Amy called everyone's attention again.

"Come on, everyone! Let's go inside and have some cake!"

Everyone agreed it was a good idea, and they quickly filed past the pink hedgehog back into the house, the blue hedgehog bringing up the rear. After all their friends had passed through the open doorway, Sonic stepped beside Amy and paused. Looking into his admirer's green eyes, he smiled brightly at her.

"Thanks, Amy", he whispered. The pink hedgehog smiled back at her crush and winked.

"Happy Birthday, Sonic!" she said softly. The two hedgehogs then laughed and stepped back into the house together, Amy closing the door gently behind her.

He had expected it to be a good day. He had expected it to pass by like any other birthday. He had been wrong. It had turned out to be a wonderful day, for by the end of it, he realized just how much he was truly loved by all his friends. It had been the best possible 18th birthday for Sonic the Hedgehog.


End file.
